Graeme Archer on CentreRight: "It is unreasonable for the champions of the burqa to pretend that their use is merely some manifestation of liberal orthodoxy, supposedly culturally neutral, rather than a deliberate, petty and offensive message to the un-burqa'ed citizenry."

"According to one source who has attended meetings between the two
departments, Duncan Smith is not prepared to accept anything less than
wholesale reform of the welfare system… Duncan Smith's central idea is to increase the
"work incentive" by ensuring that there is enough of a financial gain
for people on benefits to work. The difficulty is that the way to
address the issue is either to increase payments to those in work –
which would cost billions – or to withdraw benefits to those out of
work or in the lowest paid jobs – hurting the most vulnerable in
society." – Observer

Andrew Mitchell to announce that 40% increase in Afghan aid is his Department's top priority – BBC

"Mitchell will stress that an aid expansion to Afghanistan from £500m to £700m over the next four years will help the country stand on its own feet – improving stability, the economy and government, and allowing UK troops to come home within David Cameron's target of five years." – Observer

David Cameron orders Tory MPs to ensure 20 to 30 of them are in Commons at any one time – The Sunday Telegraph

Barack Obama in crisis as David Cameron arrives for first state visit – Observer

Janet Daley in The Sunday Telegraph reflects on Obama's failure to woo the hard working classes and warns David Cameron against doing the same.

David Cameron and Barack Obama meet this week as leaders embarked upon major reforms – John Rentoul in the Independent on Sunday

Cameron takes commercial flight to USA to save money – James Forsyth in the Mail on Sunday

Liam Fox ready to take axe to defence projects

"Liam Fox, the defence secretary, is expected to read the riot act to defence companies this week, demanding they cut costs and warning them that contracts awarded by Labour could be renegotiated. Fox will make his demands in a speech on Tuesday at the Farnborough air show. He is expected to say that the coalition is half-way through its eagerly awaited defence review, and that he is prepared to take a radical approach to achieve savings, including the cancellation of contracts already agreed." – The Sunday Times (£)

"Last week, Kenneth Clarke suggested that crime fell after 1993 not because Michael Howard added 16,000 people to the prison population, but because the government had brought prosperity. "No one can prove cause and effect," he insisted. "The crime rate fell, but was this the consequence of the policies of my successors as home secretary or, dare I gently hint, mine as chancellor… at the beginning of a period of growth and strong employment? We will never know." Actually, Mr Clarke, we already do know. Research by Professor David Farrington of Cambridge University has found that as personal consumption per head increased between 1981 and 1999, so did all types of crime, except vehicle theft and burglary. Prosperity, in other words, is neither the cure for, nor the cause of, crime." – David Green in The Sunday Telegraph

In the News of the World, Fraser Nelson notes that his book is gentle towards the Conservatives: "He does NOT stick the knife into George Osborne, or reveal what they said over dinner in Corfu. David Cameron once told me the only job he'd give Mandy was "heading a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on New Labour." His memoirs could be an application for that job."

And finally… The cartoonists draw their weapons against Nick Clegg

"Is Nick Clegg already doomed to go down in history as Little Clegg Riding Hood? As David Cameron's Eton fag, as the commanding officer's batman, as little boy lost? Look around and, only a couple of months into coalition cohabitation, you can see rival themes working. But, if you're Clegg, you'll naturally fear what may follow another few months on. Then one image will have trumped the rest. And, then, perhaps, it will begin to do real damage." – Peter Preston in The Observer

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